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Monday, January 18, 2010

Black Beans and Brown Rice

Suzy from Kitchen Bouquet started the "Great Cooking Magazine Challenge!" a while back. Every once in a while, I'd have a huge pile of cooking magazines to go through and I thought Suzy had a great idea to try to make a new recipe every once in a while!

Well, there's another huge pile of magazines on my night table! The February issues are in, and I made a small dent in the pile this weekend. So I thought I'd try one from the new issue of Martha Stewart Living! Black Beans and Brown Rice. With Avocado and Red Onion! It was a big hit! The rice was a little crunchy. I have issues cooking rice, maybe my kids by now think rice is supposed to be crunchy? Nah! I should have cooked it a little longer, but hey, the Jets were winning, I wasn't concentrating. The kids didn't mind the crunch! They loved the whole dinner! It was served with chicken marinated in Lime-Chipotle Sauce. That sauce is addictive, and really great with Tortilla chips!

It was pouring so Mr. Griller was not leaving the Jets game or his cozy recliner to stand in the heavy rain to grill chicken cutlets! He's not a very enthusiastic tailgater, especially when it's pouring. and we weren't actually tailgating! So I baked the cutlets. Thin-sliced from Perdue, beats pounding them myself. I am all for the easy way out! Took no time, and they came out really moist! Best yet! They marinated a few hours in the frig with the Lime-Chipotle Sauce, I made a double batch so we'd have some to drizzle on top of the chicken and some to have with the tortilla chips. Have I mentioned enough how addicting this sauce is? It really is.

I tend to keep things in the freezer so I have them on hand when I need them and poor Mr. Griller doesn't have to run out to the store for me at the last minute. Lemons, limes, and fresh chili peppers. All freeze really well whole. Zest the lemon and limes frozen, but if you need the juice, nuke them for a bit. I use a microplane to grate the frozen jalapeno's, seeds and all, gives the recipe nice heat! No thawing necessary!

Served the Black Beans and Brown Rice on the side with tomatoes, avocado, red onions and a squeeze of lime.

Make the beans: Bring water, beans, jalapeno, onions, garlic, vinegar, 1 tablespoon salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper to a simmer in a medium pot. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the beans are tender, about 1 1/2 hours. (Add more water, 1/4 cup at a time, if needed.) Season with salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, make the rice: Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook onion and garlic, until onion is soft, about 5 minutes. Add 2 teaspoons salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and the rice. Cook until rice is slightly toasted, about 3 minutes. Add water, and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to low, and gently simmer, covered, until rice absorbs water, 25 to 30 minutes. Remove from heat; let stand, covered, for 10 minutes. Fluff rice with a fork, and season with salt and pepper. Serve topped with beans.

My notes: I used 2 cans of beans, rinsed and drained, and added a little over a cup of water. Also added a little over a tablespoon of cumin. Mixed it all up and let it simmer about 30 minutes to develop the flavors!

We love black beans and brown rice here. Yours look great. I bought a bag of black beans today, so they're on the menu soon. Never thought to freeze whole jalapenos...and grate them! What a good idea! OK, now a tip for you... I know you shop at TJ's. They have ready to heat brown rice...and it's not crunchy. Get some! It's with the pastas.

Marsha, I freeze a batch of whole lemons in a big ziplock bag and I think I've had this bag in my freezer for 4-5 months and they're just fine - used one last night. You get more juice than you would believe after they've been frozen.

We love black beans no matter what the preparation. I love brown rice; my husband not so much; he really likes white rice. I haven't "converted" him yet. ... I'll have to try the M.S. recipe, in fact, the whole meal sounds wonderful.

I did not know that you could freeze lemons. We often buy the huge bag and Costco, and they go bad before we use them all. Thanks for the tip.

This looks like a perfect football watching dinner! I had my Mom and brother and sister-in-law over so we could all watch the game together and I made dinner as we cheered on the Jets. Great game --hope they wil this weekend! :-)

About Me

I love to cook. Sometimes. I love takeout. More than sometimes! I used to think there's "no thyme to cook," and that the smoke alarm was my timer, but now "there's always thyme to cook" and sometimes even bake!